Shopping Day
by katluver458
Summary: She HATED shopping day, but he absolutely loved it - Oneshot set sometime after the series


A/N: K so I had a favorite Toradora! fanfiction from like 203585 years aGO BUT IT'S GONE NOW SO - I'm. Gonna kinda. Rewrite it, but not really because it'll be different? Yeah I dunno I just miss it a lot ok

I feel like somethings missing, but I can't figure out what so I guess just let me know if I'm just being dumb and paranoid? O.o

Ugh.

Shopping day.

Literally _the _worst day of the week.

Well, to her anyways. Ryuuji always had a grand old time when they had to pick up groceries, comparing brands, prices, seeing what kind of deals he could swipe right under the store's noses. But, Taiga guessed it could always be worse. Thursdays usually weren't too bad, so long as it was later in the afternoon rather than earlier.

But today was just one of those days where she was more keen to complain than cooperate. They'd already been here nearly two hours, and it wasn't looking like they were going to be getting out of here anytime soon, him going through the list and only adding more and more things as they went along, stuff she was pretty sure they still had in the cabinets, but with him, it was always better 'safe than sorry'.

Hey, it wasn't her fault she couldn't remember how much milk they had left in the carton, or how much bread was left on the loaf! That wasn't her job. He was the cook, she was the eater.

"Oi, Ryuuji." She grunted, yanking roughly on the sleeve of his arm as they wandered down another aisle, going to bite his ear off for wasting so much time, then all at once stopping herself short. This one was full of chips and other bagged snack foods lining either side. - Okay, this was more her style. He usually let her pick out most of their treats, not that they had enough cash to afford it, but hey, they didn't need her old man any more, him or his money.

He smirked. Worked every time. By now, after going on nearly five years of being with or around her, he'd quickly learned to catch on to her queues, the way her brows would knit in tense, pent up aggravation, or how she would start walking a certain way, a pacing, caged tiger trapped in a petite human body, ready to break out at the first signs of provocation.

"Go ahead. We're almost done anyways, I promise this time." The young man reassured, waving her off.

She scoffed, pulling a face, but clearly his agreement was enough to quench the flames of any burning rage within her, visibly relaxing. These days, even she'd been noticing, it didn't take much to set her off. Which was really weird when you thought about it. They didn't have school to bother with anymore, no unnecessary outside stress. It was just weird, weird weird all around. But this helped, being with him helped. It always did, somehow he'd become her tranquilizer, just what she needed to balance her out, keep her grounded. "You said that fifteen minutes ago." She huffed, otherwise holding her tongue.

Hm. It was weird not hearing her call him a 'filthy dog' or a 'pathetic mongrel', but sometimes he almost missed it. Especially since she still made a point to call Kawashima 'stupid chihuahua' whenever she had the chance. 'Course, he wasn't complaining! It was just. Incredible to see just how far they'd really come since they first ran into eachother.

He leaned lazily against the front bar of the cart as he walked, just watching her wander down the walkway as well, gaze traveling from one side to the other, looking to pick out her favorite as she idly spun the tiny ring around her lefthand fourth finger with her thumb as she went.

Oh yeah. That was another thing. He had one too, a simple band like hers for a simple reason, to make a statement, mark their claim on eachother even if it still wasn't exactly official yet. Sure, they already decided on the whole marriage thing forever ago, but. They're still kind of young for that yet, him only just going to turn twenty-one here in a few months, and she hitting what? Twenty by just a hair?

She didn't fight it, muttering a blushed agreement to promise rings for now until they were good and ready. Maybe they'd never be but, that was just fine with him. So long as they were together, he didn't need some piece of paper to tell him who he loved.

Like she said when they were reunited once again their senior year, she hadn't grown any more since then either, not in inches or bust either. And like before, he didn't complain about any of it. Thankfully, she'd long since abandoned the idea of being like other normal girls. Normal was overrated, as she and Minori proved time and time again, their shenanigans never faltering even in adulthood.

Speaking of. He should really try and get ahold of Kitamura sometime here pretty soon. It's been awhile, and he was curious to know how things were going over in America chasing after his former class president. Any luck, or did he dye his hair blonde again in some kind of depressed stupor?

A scoff escaped him, shaking his head and rolling his eyes, and he was only roused out of his wandering thoughts when Taiga dumped a noisy armful of various chips in the cart. And somehow along the way she found some bags of candy? Did she sneak a row over to snatch some while he wasn't paying any attention? "'Kay, got it." She proudly proclaimed, arms crossed and giving a snort of defiance.

He blinked, eventually giving a heavy sigh of defeat. "Alright, alright. I guess we still have awhile to go before Halloween, and we don't even celebrate Easter, so…" He trailed off, at a loss for some kind of excuse. Then again, his own sweet tooth had been aching too lately. And no doubt Yasuko would like the treats too, what with the suddenly normal hours at her new job keeping her busy.

She gave a wicked grin, and since he was still leaning over into the cart, he was the perfect height for her to spring to action, dart over to kiss his cheek.

He smiled, rubbing at the touched spot a moment or two. "Heh. We better hurry up and get out of this place before I see anything else you forgot to get." He commented, doublechecking to see if she grabbed his favorite; A king-sized Payday for the long drive back home. And bless her, she thought better to snag like, three of them. Oh yeah, he made a good pick with her.

When they went to change course, head for the produce now, the last of their various stops, all at once she froze, obviously spotting something out of the corner of her eye that set her on edge, could practically see the thick mane of her hair bristling with nerves, but from where he was standing, he couldn't tell what the big deal was. The clothes were over there, and summer was only just now getting into full swing. Did she need some new shorts, or sundresses?

Clearly something seemed to occur to her, but before he could ask what was wrong, she was weasling her way between him and the bar, intent on pushing them to wherever their next destination was. "Actually, I just thought of somethin'. We gotta go back this way." She demanded, struggling with trying to move the mass of weight on wheels, but absolutely refused to relent, so deadset on getting this show on the road she didn't even comment with Ryuuji put his hands outside of hers to help push, keeping his grip just loose enough to where she could steer them along.

He quirked a brow, noting the slight grimace overtaking her features, definitely a 180 from just two seconds ago. "Uhh...Where are we…?" He started.

"Shuddup. We need food." Was all she said, more of a bark, really.

Now it was his turn to pull a face, gaze traveling over to the mass of foodstuff that was making it so physically hard for her to move. "We have food?"

"I said shuddup! We didn't get any...Cereal…" She trailed off, lying straight through her teeth with that lame, halfassed excuse and he could tell it too, but he wouldn't call her out, only growing more and more confused.

The cereal was back over that way anyways, behind them the way that they came, not over here. He somewhat recognized this area of the store from passing through with his mother whenever they would make their trips into town, but he never really had any reason to actually travel over this way. Something was up, Taiga just wasn't telling him. He'd have to try and figure it out on his own before she hurt something, or herself.

All at once, she dug her heels into the tile flooring, bringing this slow, shaky ride to a skidding stop, accidentally elbowing him roughly in the gut with an 'ooph'. "- Stay here. Don't move." The girl commanded, squirming herself free before he could get her trapped between this rock and a hard place, before he could ask any questions she couldn't exactly answer.

It took her about two seconds to disappear despite the stride of her legs. Her speed never failed her, whether it be on land or in the water. Like when she ran away the last few times, he was slowly becoming more and more unsure, an anxious knot of his own starting to twist. She wasn't just going to take off and leave again, was she? He thought they were behind all of that. His nose wrinkled, he pulled another face, but otherwise didn't budge an inch. He just had to trust her on this one.

Thankfully, much to his relief, she did return, like every time before, but this time her steps were slow, face downcast, staring at her feet, hiding something that couldn't possibly be a box or bag of cereal behind her back. And not just because the length from shoulder to shoulder, the waist ratio on her wouldn't exactly hide something that large compared to her either.

He didn't say a word when she finally made it all the way back over to him, and she still refused to look at him. "Did you find it?" He broke the silence, but instantly regretted it when she visibly flinched. "Ah, look, if you wanted some more -" He started, and she shook her head vigorously, shoving a small sort of something from her hidden hands to his. He nearly dropped it at first, unprepared for the sudden transfer. It was just a can, a little glass can. Nothing special or secret about it, so what was the big deal…?

Turning it over in his grip, he had to squint to read the label properly. It was applesauce it looked like. He didn't know she even liked applesauce, or any kind of fruit, juice or otherwise since she's always been a meat and beans kind of girl. But then, it dawned on him. Just what exactly this particular brand was. And by the time the pieces all fit together in his dense brain, she was twiddling her thumbs absently, and he was pale as a sheet.

This.

This was baby food…?

He swallowed thickly, licking rough, dry lips while he struggled to find something to say. It all made sense now, the weird moods, the junkfood binge-eating, and the clothes. She must've seen some little outfits over there or something, and that was it. She figured it was time to tell him, get it over with, here of all places! She never was the best with timing. How long had she been keeping this to herself? He was none the more awares last week when they went shopping, or even the week before! His mouth opened, closed, opened again, and after the longest time, he managed a choked - "T-Taiga, are you…"

She stopped him again, making the tiniest, helpless noise in the back of her throat, so unlike her. "D-Don't say it! Not...Not yet. Not here." She nearly begged, only after his jaw clicked shut again did she calm, giving only the barest ghost of a nod, like she'd hate him for something like this. Something they couldn't exactly control.

Or, didn't bother to control. They always figured she never could. It was never a problem before, an issue that needed to be discussed, just one of those things they had to work with, learn to accept just like everything else they've had to deal with.

This was certainly a shocker, though.

His heart thudded, blood pounding in his ears, worst-case scenarios crashing through his mind like an out of control train. What if? What **if**?

But then, just as quick, it all stopped, melted away like snow, a reserved sort of calm at this inner realization. He wasn't going to let it happen all over again. Not this time around, not with him. A slap-happy grin spreads across his face, smoothly enough abandoning the can in the safety of the cart, then, instead of just hugging her, or pulling off some kind of sappy, cheesy crap to drive her insane, he scooped her up effortlessly, nuzzling at the dirty blonde crown of her head, peppering her face with goofy, elated kisses until she had no choice but to cut a laugh, to which he gladly echoed, chasing her ridiculous worries away. Just like he always did.

"That's - That's great!" He nearly crowed, through her laughing, Taiga loudly shushing him before he ruined it.

Looks like they were going to be a liiitttllle more pressed for time about the whole getting married thing….


End file.
